Cowboy up
Cowboys continue late-season surge.
Oklahoma State’s Colin Simpson made Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark his personal playground Thursday night.
TankTown Ballpark, if you will.
That’s Simpson’s nickname — Tank — because, well, at 5-foot-9 and 221 pounds it just fits.
“(Pitching coach) Rob Walton actually gave me that name in my freshman fall,” Simpson said. “We walked into the indoor cages to just hit some (batting practice) in the cages, and Rob looks at me and says, ‘You’re kind of built like a tank. I’m going to call you Tank.’
“Since then it’s stuck.”
The Cowboys catcher muscled more late-season momentum for the Cowboys, driving two long home runs in OSU’s 8-4 Big 12 Tournament win over West Virginia, putting the Pokes on the brink of Sunday’s championship game.
After earning a day off Friday while the losers’ bracket plays out, the Cowboys return to action Saturday with two chances to produce one win that would put them in Sunday’s finale, which offers the Big 12’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
None of this seemed likely a week ago. Yet OSU is running hot, with four straight wins over Big 12 foes for the first time this season; two tournament victories following the weekend sweep of Oklahoma.
And the Cowboys have Simpson to thank for the latest win, as he finished 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs, a double and five runs batted in.
“Colin, what a day,” said OSU coach Josh Holliday. “The guy’s catching. He’s whacking balls out of the yard. He’s hitting doubles. He’s knocking in runs. He’s covered in mud.”
The Mountaineers had seen this before from Simpson, as his only other multi-homer game came against them in Stillwater on April 22, albeit in a Cowboys loss, when he drilled two long balls in that game.
West Virginia tagged him with another moniker back then.
“When we left Stillwater earlier this year, we gave their catcher the
nickname Homer Simpson,” Mountaineers coach Randy Mazey said. “And he lived up to the billing today, again. “Some people play really well on a certain field, like we do. He feels so comfortable at the plate against us. The guy’s killed us.”
A sophomore from Edmond Memorial, Simpson now leads OSU with 11 home runs. Unlike his previous two-homer game against West Virginia, this time he made sure OSU stayed ahead.
Tyler Buffett labored through 5 ⅓ innings, allowing 12 hits, but just four runs, effectively navigating trouble and regularly leaving runners stranded. Cole Hearrean, Jake Cowan and Carson Teel and followed with 3 ⅔ innings of one-hit, scoreless relief.
Tank did the rest.
He drilled his first home run in the first inning, a two-run shot for an early 2-0 lead. The Cowboys added a run in the fourth on two walks, a hit batter and an RBI fielder’s choice. Then Simpson ignited a two-run rally in the fifth, leading off with a double and scoring on a run-scoring single by Dustin Williams. Ryan Sluder later singled Williams home, pushing OSU’s lead to 5-1, before the Mountaineers cut it to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth.
Soon, Simpson provided real breathing room. After Garrett McCain was hit by a pitch and Garrett Benge walked to open the sixth, Simpson greeted reliever Jackson Sigman with a three-run blast over the fence in dead-center, pushing OSU’s lead to 8-2.
“We needed another push there when they started closing in on us,” Holliday said. “And that three-run homer he hit I think was that push.”
How important was it for you all to get this victory after getting upset by Kansas yesterday?
“Really important. It was good for our starting pitchers to go deep in the game. Jared (Janczak) filled up the zone, and we got some early runs in the game to put us I control.”
What is the biggest difference you’ve noticed since moving to America from Australia?
“Baseball is a whole lot bigger over here. Back home, it’s not really played in school. It’s kind of a local or
What is your best memory from back home?
“Probably playing for the Australian National Team in the Under-18 World Championships. The U.S. won it that year, actually.”
Did you play against any big names?
“The shortstop was (Christian) Arroyo. He’s playing for the San Francisco Giants now in the big leagues. I just saw him play the other day. There was also a kid from Japan throwing 100 miles per hour when I was playing against them.”